7. Power of Judicial Review

Judicial review is the power of a high court to examine the constitutionality of legislative enactments and executive orders of both the Central and state governments. On examination, if they are found to be violative of the Constitution (ultra-vires), they can be declared as illegal, unconstitutional and invalid (null and void) by the high court. Consequently, they cannot be enforced by the government.

Though the phrase 'judicial review’ has no where been used in the Constitution, the provisions of Articles 13 and 226 explicitly confer the power of judicial review on a high court. The constitutional validity of a legislative enactment or an executive order can be challenged in a high court on the following three grounds:

(a) it infringes the fundamental rights (Part III),

(b) it is outside the competence of the authority which has framed it, and

The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 curtailed the judicial review power of high court. It debarred the high courts from considering

the constitutional validity of any central law. However, the 43rd Amendment Act of 1977 restored the original position.

Table 34.1 Name and Jurisdiction of High Courts

Name	Year of Territorial establishment Jurisdiction		Seat
1. Allahabad	1866	Uttar Pradesh	Allahabad (Bench at Lucknow)
2. Andhra Pradesh	2019	Andhra Pradesh	Amaravati
3. Bombay 13	1862	Maharashta,	Mumbai
	Goa, Dadra and		(Benches at
	Nagar Haveli		Nagpur,
	and Daman and		Panaji and
	Diu		Aurangabad)
4. Calcutta 13	1862	West Bengal	Kolkata
	and Andaman		(Circuit
	and Nicobar		Bench at
	Islands		Port Blair)
5. Chhattisgarh	2000	Chhattisgarh	Bilaspur
6. Delhi	1966	Delhi	Delhi
7. Guwahati	1948 10	Assam,	Guwahati
	Nagaland,		(Benches at
	Mizoram and		Kohima,
	Arunachal		Aizawl and
	Pradesh 14		Itanagar)
8. Gujarat	1960	Gujarat	Ahmedabad
9. Himachal Pradesh	1971	Himachal Pradesh	Simla
10. Jammu and Kashmir	1928	Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh	Srinagar and Jammu
11. Jharkhand	2000	Jharkhand	Ranchi

12. Karnataka	1884 11	Karnataka	Bengaluru
13. Kerala	1956	Kerala and Lakshadweep	Ernakulam
14. Madhya Pradesh	1956	Madhya Pradesh	Jabalpur (Benches at Gwalior and Indore)
15. Madras 13	1862	Tamil Nadu and Puducherry	Chennai
16. Manipur 15	2013	Manipur	Imphal
17. Meghalaya 15	2013	Meghalaya	Shillong
18. Orissa 16	1948	Odisha	Cuttack
19. Patna	1916	Bihar	Patna
20. Punjab and Haryana	1875 12	Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh	Chandigarh
21. Rajasthan	1949	Rajasthan	Jodhpur (Bench at Jaipur)
22. Sikkim	1975	Sikkim	Gangtok
23. Telangana 17	1954	Telangana	Hyderabad
24. Tripura 15	2013	Tripura	Agartala
25. Uttarakhand	2000	Uttarakhand	Nainital

Table 34.2 Articles Related to High Courts at a Glance

Article No. Subject Matter

214. High Courts for states

215. High Courts to be courts of record

216. Constitution of High Courts

217. Appointment and conditions of the office of a Judge of a High Court

218. Application of certain provisions relating to Supreme Court to High Courts

219. Oath or affirmation by judges of High Courts

220. Restriction on practice after being a permanent judge

221. Salaries etc., of judges

222. Transfer of a judge from one High Court to another

223. Appointment of acting Chief Justice

224. Appointment of additional and acting judges 224A. Appointment of retired judges at sittings of

High Courts

225. Jurisdiction of existing High Courts

226. Power of High Courts to issue certain writs 226A. Constitutional validity of Central laws not to be

considered in proceedings under Article 226 (Repealed)

227. Power of superintendence over all courts by the High Court

228. Transfer of certain cases to High Court

228A. Special provisions as to disposal of questions relating to constitutional validity of state laws (Repealed)

229. Officers and servants and the expenses of High Courts

230. Extension of jurisdiction of High Courts to union territories

231. Establishment of a common High Court for two or more states

232. Interpretation (Repealed)

NOTES AND REFERENCES

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